Humans, being part of the universe,are inherently curious about it. Vigyanguru endeavors to fill the chasm between people challenging scientific frontiers and general public by bringing and presenting science related information in a simplified way.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Influenza A virus H1N1 is a RNA virus named according to two proteins found on its surface: Hemagglutinin (H) and Neuraminidase (N). All influenza A viruses contain both these proteins but with varying structure due to rapid genetic mutation in the viral genome. Influenza A virus strains are assigned an H number and N number based on which forms of these two proteins the strains contains. There are 16 H and 9 N subtypes known in birds, but only H 1, 2 and 3, and N 1 and 2 are commonly found in humans. Click here to view WHO provided interative timeline of all cases of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009.